


Progeny

by Nitroid



Category: Sengoku Basara
Genre: Drama, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 15:50:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12820851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nitroid/pseuds/Nitroid
Summary: Caring for their young Lords becomes an understatement when a normal day turns extraordinary for Sasuke and Kojuurou.





	Progeny

**Author's Note:**

> I love how Sasuke and Kojuurou have paternal authority over Yukimura and Masamune respectively.

A peaceful morning in the middle of the week found Sarutobi Sasuke polishing his massive shuriken in the servant barracks, shared amongst the ninja who served under the young general, Sanada Yukimura. The servants pattered around the vast estate doing their duties, getting food ready and cleaning the area.

 

A piercing cry shocked Sasuke, switching his relaxed mood to one of high alert.

 

“Sasuke-nii!”

 

A child’s voice, and a very familiar one at that.

 

But it was not one the seasoned ninja had heard in a very long time, not since…

 

“Danna…?” Sasuke looked out at the garden through the open rice paper sliding doors, pausing in his weapon polishing. “Ahh, no, it can’t be, there’s no way.”

 

The birds chirped in the trees. With a quiet, calming whoosh, the summer breeze fled through the foliage surrounding the Takeda estate, bringing with it the scent of the fields in the near distance. It was a familiar, comforting scent. It was home.

 

His thoughts flitted back to the days when he was a young ninja, still fresh and undergoing training in the art of the _shinobi_. The child of the Sanada family had just been entrusted to his care by none other than the Tiger of Kai, Takeda Shingen. How Lord Shingen came to the conclusion that he was a fit mentor for a child was beyond him, even now. Sasuke recalled the bright young Benmaru, barely able to run back then, trying to keep up with his long-legged pace as he pattered after Sasuke around the Takeda estate.

 

He’d gone from being called Benmaru to Yukimura in the blink of an eye.

 

“Children tend to grow.” Shingen had said once, when his favorite vase, a gift from Lord Uesugi, lay in broken shards at his feet.

 

Yukimura had always been a careful child, but at the time, at thirteen, his growing limbs had evolved his childish actions into a clumsy teenager. Shingen had been forgiving, but Sasuke felt it was his duty to give Yukimura an earful.

 

Sasuke had been yelled at by his young lord, and in a state of angry rebellion, Yukimura had run into the city to escape from being chastised back at the Takeda estate. Later on, Sasuke had found him haunting the likes of a street vendor who was selling dango, and purchased a plateful for his young master. Things were back to normal the instant Yukimura flung his arms around him with a mumbled apology, to which Sasuke had responded with one of his own.

 

It had been a bittersweet moment for young Sasuke, back then.

 

“Sasuke-nii! It’s me!”

 

A quick pattering of tiny feet jolted the ninja out of his dreamy state. It wasn’t long before an adorable, pint sized Yukimura with his happy, round face came clambering up over the ledge into Sasuke’s lodgings. His tiny body was completely bare save for the red headband usually tied around his forehead, now slung around his body in a strange makeshift fashion.

 

Did he fall asleep somehow?

 

“I-Danna-what..?” Sasuke dropped his shuriken, mouth agape, eyes wide. “No, Benmaru-”

 

No, this was too ridiculous to not be a dream.

 

“Sa-Sasuke!” Child Yukimura huffed as he struggled to climb over the wood ledge, short legs pedaling the air while his small hands tried to grasp at the smooth surface. “Hnnngh!”

 

It was his lord, no doubt.

 

But the Sanada Yukimura he knew of the present was seventeen years old, not the Benmaru of the past. Sasuke pinched his arm, hard, and deduced from the pain that he was lucid and wasn’t experiencing random hallucinations in the middle of the day.

 

“Sarutobi-sama!” A running servant skidded to a stop before panting in distress. “S-Something terrible has happened!”

 

x

 

“Let me get this straight.” Sasuke mused as he cradled a giggly toddler Yukimura in his arms. “You clearly saw Sanada-danna having a nap under a sakura tree and when he woke up, he was this kid?”

 

An unlikely story.

 

The child was wrapped in one of Yukimura’s old yukata, something he had worn as a toddler. Strangely, it seemed to fit him perfectly, almost as if it had been made for him.

 

“Yes, yes.” The servant who had followed Yukimura was now surrounded by several others.

 

“So what happened while he was asleep?” Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes. “Was anyone watching him?”

 

The servants’ collective shrugging of shoulders echoed around the silence of the room.

 

Sasuke bit his bottom lip and gently removed Yukimura’s inquisitive hands from patting his cheeks. “No. Not possible. This can’t be Sanada-danna.”

 

“That _is_ Benmaru-dono!” The quibbling group of servants chorused insistently.

 

Sasuke sighed as he tried to make head or tail of this situation that had just been thrown at him. Just as well Lord Shingen was away, riding to meet Lord Uesugi at the nearby valley. It wouldn’t do to have him add to the confusion that enveloped this mess. In his lap, the child Yukimura gurgled as he played with Sasuke’s shuriken, only half-polished.

 

“Ah! Don’t!” Sasuke gasped as Yukimura’s persistent fingers reached for the tip of his shuriken blade. “You’re gonna hurt yourself, Sanada-danna!”

 

He caught the little boy’s hands in his own before giving them a loving kiss.

 

Yukimura blinked up at him with wide eyes, curious and innocent despite his current plight. “Sasuke?”

 

It seemed like Sasuke’s name was all he could say. The professional ninja bit his lower lip, recalling the days he spent raising Yukimura into the general Lord Shingen prophesied him to be.

 

Nodding at the ninja under his command, Sasuke sent them away to look for clues around the area, and to spy on enemy territory. Something was definitely off. The occupants of Takeda estate were his first suspect, but Sasuke couldn’t rule out the possibility that his young lord had been abducted by Shingen’s enemies, leaving this child in his absence as a decoy.

 

But how could they have found one that looked exactly like Yukimura did as a child? Sasuke’s thoughts were all over the place as he struggled to find the logic in all of this.

 

The servants before him were old and looked highly concerned. Sasuke felt the burden of the situation lie heavily on his shoulders. All of them had cared for Yukimura since Sasuke had fled the Sanada estate with their lives, to seek protection from Lord Shingen of Takeda. Their love and affection for Yukimura was clearly apparent in the way they treated his young lord. He didn’t want to worry them any more.

 

The child’s hands were adorably tiny in his large ones.

 

“Ahhhh!” Sasuke hollered up at the ceiling.

 

Yukimura proceeded to nibble on Sasuke’s fingers with tiny teeth. He could barely fit one finger in his mouth.

 

“Danna, you’re so cute.” Already distracted, Sasuke nuzzled Yukimura’s soft hair before dropping a kiss on his forehead.

 

The servants hid their smiles as they bowed low, leaving the young master in his care.

 

When their footsteps died down, Sasuke heaved a deep sigh of resignation. There were things to be done, but first, this young boy needed some tending to.


End file.
